Daytona

Last week I took a solo trip down to my Dad’s in the Daytona Beach area of Florida for a visit and help him with a few projects. I’m not too fond of solo trips and really do miss having Donna sitting behind me. A solo day ride is one thing but a solo trip is another thing entirely. This would also be the R1200RT’s first long trip since we brought it back from Daytona Beach, FL back in October of 2014.

We live just north of Atlanta, GA which means going through or around Atlanta to get to Florida. I commuted to Atlanta everyday day before I retired so I already had a plan. That plan was to get on the road by 6:30 am to be just ahead of the bulk of the rush hour traffic. It would also mean leaving in the dark which doesn’t bother me at all. I’d rather start the day in the dark than end it in the dark when I’m tired. You either get on the road early or wait and get on the road much later in the morning. Well my plan was a disaster due to the lack of driving skills of others. A multi-car accident on an entirely different highway caused major gridlock on Interstate 75 South! Imagine looking down at the GPS to see that you’re travelling 7.9 mph, and that was fast for that morning. It took me over an hour to travel a grand total of 18 miles, 15 of which were on the interstate! I was normally able to leave for work just before 7:00 am and get to work by 8:00 am with what I call normal rush hour traffic. An hour and 35 minutes into the ride I was getting to the exit I used to use from the interstate to get to my office! But once I got inside I-285, Atlanta’s perimeter highway, it was pretty much a speed limit ride. It was also pretty cold that morning too! When I left the temperature was in the upper 20’s (F) and peaked at about 30° (F) for quite some time until around central Georgia, well south of Macon. The cold caused another predicament too. I was dressed for cold weather riding, not cold weather sitting. After some time in traffic I was actually getting cold because I had also started to sweat. I had to turn the temperature on the heated seat down but left the grips toasty warm. As I approached southern Georgia the temperature started warming to near 50° (F) and slowly warmed a bit more. I actually had the heated grips on until I was in northern Florida! On the whole trip down the R1200RT continued to impress me. I had the dynamic ESA set to one rider with luggage and the mode set to soft, being on the interstate. To break the boredom of interstate highway travel it was good to have the Sirius/XM satellite radio. Once I got to Jacksonville, FL I tuned it into Radio Margaritaville!

After a few days in Florida it was time to head for home. When I left it was sunny and quickly warmed to about 74° (F) for a good while. As I headed west on I-10 and then north on I-75 the temperature started to drop but it stayed sunny. The day’s forecast had already told me that I’d be riding into rain the closer I got to home. As I approached Macon I was still in the sunshine but could see gray skies ahead. Once in Macon it started to rain on and off just enough to wet the windshield a few times. As I pressed on approaching Atlanta the rain became more steady, but not heavy. I switched the ride mode to “Rain” and continued on. The new fairing and windshield design on the R1200RT does manage to keep a lot of the rain off you while you’re moving. I’m still adjusting the new timing of the gas stops between the new R1200RT and our old K1200LT. In fact the R1200RT has a half-gallon larger gas tank, gets better gas mileage and goes further between fill ups. I stopped for gas south of Valdosta, GA to fill up and then did not stop again until I got off the highway near home, a full 265 miles later! And even when I did stop, I still had more than a gallon of gas left. This was with the cruise control seat at about 75 mph on the posted 70 mph stretch which was nearly most of the trip! The R1200RT averaged over 53 mpg on that last tank! Now along the way I was checking the trip computer (which can be displayed on the GPS screen) and it showed I’d get home with 65-70 miles of gas left (depending on the speed). The closer I got to home I also started to suffer from “getthereitis” but I wasn’t tired. But I will admit that I did find out what I had always heard about BMW seats being hard. During those last 50 miles I could have sworn I was sitting on a cinder block! Our previous motorcycle, the K1200LT already had a custom Rick Mayer seat on it when we bought it. That stretch from Valdosta to home was good practice for an Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000! And it looks like a forecast of sunny and warm for this Saturday!

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Okay, I can’t keep the lid on it any longer. Let us introduce you to our new 2014 BMW R1200RT!

When we arrived in Daytona Beach last week, our K1200LT suffered a failed outer bearing on the final drive of the motorcycle. BMW Motorcycles of Daytona was going to get us back on the road pretty quickly though. You can read the entry about the final drive here instead of me going into it again.

We were at the dealer when we started to “What if…” ourselves. Many of you know what I mean. What if this happens or what if that happens? The K1200LT had 85, 391 miles on her when we retired her. Yes there were some maintenance items coming up due but that’s why it’s maintenance and hopefully not repair. I had just changed the oil before our trip to Florida.

We were looking at an ebony black 2015 K1600GTL and what is now our quartz metallic blue 2014 R1200RT. To be honest, the more we looked, I couldn’t justify the extra money of the K1600. Besides the R1200RT is the boxer style engine. I really didn’t like the R1200RT in the black or the matte gray they had. But that’s just my choice. The R1200RT was pretty much outfitted with everything the K1600GTL had too! It has the Bluetooth audio and communications system, the heated seats and grips, cruise control, satellite radio, the ESA suspension system and so much more. Did I say it’s got a boxer style motor? As an incentive from BMW the purchase of the 2014 R1200RT came with the BMW Nav V GPS system. BMW of Daytona was out of the GPS so they needed to get it from their sister dealer in Orlando. It hadn’t arrived by the time we headed for home so they need to ship it this week. We went ahead and ordered the 49 liter top case, which they also didn’t have and will be shipped. It was a tougher decision to do this than we thought but we’re thinking it was a good one.

We spent about half a day riding it around Daytona Beach during Biketoberfest while visiting my Dad. And then on Sunday we rode it home. The top case wasn’t in yet and this was the first time Donna would really be riding without a back rest or top case behind her for support. Luckily, we had done like we had in the past and made the trip home in 2 days after a stop overnight in Tifton, GA. It was really a good idea this time. Donna really wasn’t fond of not having the top case yet. And for me, after having the custom seat on the K1200LT the BMW seat on the R1200RT felt like sitting on a cinder block after a few hours. I’m sure I’ll adjust to the seat. The R1200RT gets tossed around by trucks more being that it’s more than 250 pounds lighter than the K1200LT was. We will miss the Magic Carpet, she served us well.

In the coming weeks as we ride the R1200RT I’ll be posting more articles about it. She hasn’t been named yet but that will come soon.

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Last Sunday I headed down on a solo trip to Florida to visit my Dad in the Daytona Beach area. It’s a trip that’s made a couple of times a year. The route isn’t anything spectacular as the whole idea is to get there. As you can imagine it’s all interstate highways to get there (although we have an alternate or two) going down I-75 to I-10, around Jacksonville on I-295 (believe me, you want to go around Jacksonville and not through) and then I-95 to my destination. See, I told you it was an interesting route. Departure is usually early in the morning letting me (or us) arrive in the afternoon. This trip was a little different and I left late in the morning so I’d get there in the very early evening (when I’m solo I can travel much quicker and take shorter stops).

I forget how hot south-central Georgia can be once you get south of Macon! In southern Georgia I was motoring along in the center lane with the cruise control set just above 70 mph. In the right lane there was an SUV pulling an open trailer and I was slowly gaining on them. As I got closer I could see some children’s bicycles on the trailer along with what looked like some waterproof boxes. And then I saw it. There was a BMW R1200GSA travelling on down the road on the trailer! I slowly pulled alongside and adjusted the cruise control to match his speed. The driver saw me and energetically waved at me. I waved back. Then, I pointed to the motorcycle shaking my head and waving my finger in “no no” fashion like a parent would to a child. He burst out laughing! Then he shrugged his shoulders and pointed to his wife (I’m assuming) in the passenger seat, as if to say “It was her idea!” I motioned again and she started laughing too. It was kind of fun. I had hoped I’d run into them at a gas stop or rest area so I could tell him something like “I was going to call 911 when I saw a BMW on a trailer because I thought it was stolen.” or “I knew Harley Davidson was coming out with 2 new models but I didn’t know they looked like an R1200GSA.” In all fairness to this family they had Canadian license plates so it would’ve been a long family ride. But, his wife does get major points for letting him bring the motorcycle along.

The rest of the trip went pretty much according to plan until I got to the Jacksonville area. The skies ahead were darkening and I knew rain was coming. I went ahead and stopped for my last gas stop on the way. After gassing up I checked the weather radar and saw storms on a map that was only 2 minutes old. But knowing the area and seeing the map I felt confident that by getting on I-295 very shortly and then heading south that I’d miss the storms. Well Murphy’s Law took over. It wasn’t long down the road when the bottom fell out with one of those good old-fashioned Florida summer thunderstorms. I was wearing a mesh jacket and my Tourmaster mesh pants. Did you know that rain goes right through mesh gear just like wind does? In no time I was soaked and there was no overpass around to duck under which to put rain gear on so I motored on. The thunderstorm lasted only about 10 minutes and then I was riding on dry road again. But I also found out that mesh riding gear also dries off really quick too. I had 2 more bouts with the rain once I got on I-95. After the second thundershower I just left the rain pants on and left the rain liner in the mesh jacket. I did get pretty warm. That last hour and half or so was the worst part of the trip and got me to my Dad’s much later than expected.

Once there it was the typical visiting my Dad. I always knew that my Dad had originally enlisted in the Marine Corps at 15 years old during WWII and was sent home when it was discovered. One rainy day over lunch on the water, and a beer in my Dad, I got the full story. It was the summer of 1945 and he was 15 years old and falsified his age to join the Marines. The Drill Instructors had been coming in since the beginning and telling them that if they were not old enough to be there to step forward. The Boots (recruits) would even be pushed onto to bunks or onto the floor. They were several weeks into Boot Camp and he figured they were on to him. So when they said to step forward if you weren’t old enough, he did, along with a guy across the aisle too. They were both ushered off and interviewed separately by the Drill Instructor. My Dad said the Drill Instructor asked him what he wanted to do and what he thought should be done to him. He said the demeanor was now different, apparently since he now knew he was speaking with a 15-year-old boy. My Dad said they were halfway through with Boot Camp and he felt he had a duty to complete it. He was sent out to rejoin his platoon and complete Boot Camp and wasn’t treated any different from anyone else. He said that Parris Island was packed with Marines who had already completed Boot Camp and were continuing their training right there while they were living in “tent cities” while the Boots were in barracks. One day the platoon was gathered and they were told that a “secret bomb” had been dropped on Japan, that the one bomb had leveled an entire city and it was hoped it would end the war. It was years later when he learned that after Boot Camp that their training was for the invasion of the home island of Japan. There were told only it would be the fiercest fighting ever faced by the Marines or the Army. They continued to train. Japan surrendered and they continued to train. My Dad graduated Boot Camp and turned 16 years old at Parris Island. It was October when he was summoned to the Company Commander. He was told that a relative had written a letter, presumably to a Congressman or Senator that he was too young to enlist. The war was now over and he was being given a General Discharge under “Honorable Circumstances” with the reason for the discharge being a Falsified Enlistment. The Honorable Circumstances meant that he could re-enlist when he was old enough, which he later did. That lunchtime conversation made the entire trip worth while.

“The Loop” in the Daytona Beach area.

A few days later I rode “The Loop”, a short ride that begins in Ormond Beach and goes along the Halifax River and then through two state parks. Once in the parks you ride though some beautiful marsh land. A portion of the ride is on the thin strip of land between the Halifax River and the Atlantic Ocean. You’ll ride with very large and expensive homes on one side of the street and cinder block bungalows on the other. As you right between those houses the road is covered by the branches of trees. I suppose you could ride along the stretch of Highway A1A along the beach that parallels the river side, but you’ve already ridden along the beach to get there. No beach riding on this ride. Portions of the ride make you feel like you’re in a remote wilderness. The ride gets its name from beginning and ending at the same intersection, hence “The Loop”. Oh, and the trip wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to BMW Motorcycles of Daytona!

I had planned on leaving late in the morning on Friday as I had done to get there. My hope was to come through Atlanta after rush hour. My Dad then figured that it was Friday and if it rained in Atlanta I may not miss rush hour. So it was decided that I should be on the road by 6:30 am. I was on the road at 6:20 am. And as luck would have it, I got stuck behind a large crash on I-75 approaching Atlanta. I took me well over 30 minutes to travel 2 miles. That extra time put me going right though Atlanta at the beginning of a Friday afternoon rush hour. My Dad’s idea would have had me at home before rush hour even began. Oh well.

I made it back home to Donna and the dogs. Now we’ll be getting ready for trip that Donna and I will be taking next weekend to Maggie Valley, NC. We don’t know yet if we’ll ride some on the Blue Ridge Parkway or if we’ll go to the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum.

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We took a short vacation on the motorcycle that took us through three states and through one of the states three times. We left Georgia for our first destination in South Carolina where we stayed for two days. Then we left South Carolina going through Georgia to head for our next destination in Florida for a few days. Then we finally left Florida to head back into Georgia. This time the Magic Carpet was our transportation to our destinations. Once we arrived there were no plans to ride anywhere. The bike got us from to each point on the leg. At least it’s more fun than a car!

On the first day we left home in Georgia for our first stop in Beaufort, SC in the Low Country. About half our ride was along Interstate 20 East heading from the Atlanta, GA area to the Augusta, GA area. The forecast called for a distinct chance of rain showers for that part of the route but we were very lucky to get just a few drops of rain on the windshield a couple of times. It did look ominous for a while when the sky ahead turned dark and cars approaching on the other side of the highway all had their headlights on but somehow we dodged the rain. The temperature stayed in the mid 50’s° (F) the entire day, forcing us to keep the liners in our jackets. After lunch in Augusta it was just a short hop over the border into South Carolina to get off the highway in North Augusta, South Carolina. We were now ready to head south-east on SC HWY 125 which is also known as Atomic RD. You see, SC125 goes through part of the Savannah River Plant. The Savannah River Plant is a nuclear plant but it’s purpose is not power generation but making things that go BOOM. The stretch of SC 125 that meanders through part of the plant is a two lane stretch of about 25-30 miles through forest and has no intersections. There are a few plant entrances but no intersections. While we didn’t see any 8 foot tall grasshoppers we did see a few streams with warning signs that said “Caution: Stream Temperature May Change Rapidly”. The fence lining the highway had the nice government “No Trespassing” signs. There were plenty of signs telling us not to stop except for an emergency. I found it amusing to see a sign about a historical marker a half mile ahead and sign under it commanding “No Stopping”. After the plant it was time to head for US HWY 278 and some of the small rural towns of South Carolina. It wasn’t long before Interstate 95 came into view but we were going to go under it and keep going. As we got deeper in the Low Country we could notice small fields of water and marshes along the road. Even while still a good distance inland, these marshes were controlled by the tides. It was also starting to get very windy while the sky was clearing. Live oaks with Spanish Moss began to form a canopy over the road. It wasn’t long before we were in Beaufort and checking in at the Best Western Sea Island Inn on Bay ST. Beaufort is a low country town very near the coast and is situated nearly equally from Charleston, SC as it is from Savannah, GA. It is also the county seat for Beaufort County. The town is loaded with ante-bellum homes built in the mid 1800’s. If you want to buy one, a small one could start at $750,000. We’ve learned that Beaufort was also an area were freed slaves were allowed to settle before the Civil War. The freed slaves could own businesses, buy property and had their own bank and churches. If you consider that this was South Carolina before the Civil War it was actually pretty amazing. The Magic Carpet stayed parked and resting during our two-day stay. Everything we wanted to do or see was right along Bay ST and a short walking distance. The hotel has 5 of its rooms overlooking Bay ST. Our door opened to a view through the trees of the Beaufort River and the downtown city marina.

After two days in Beaufort it was time to pack the motorcycle and head for our next destination in Port Orange, FL near Daytona Beach where we’d be visiting my Dad. I had planned a route that would take us in a south-west direction on state highways before we reached Interstate 95 which we would be using this time. Although we did get some nice scenery on the two lane highway in the low country and crossed the Broad River. It was still quite windy too. There were quite a few times that our heads got tossed around by wind and even began activating the VOX on the intercom. We stopped for gas just north of Brunswick, GA and were also able to take the liners out of our jackets. From there is was all interstate on I-95 into Florida, through Jacksonville and on into Daytona Beach and Port Orange. On both our ride to Beaufort and to Florida it was nice that we could get a late start in the morning and be at our destinations in the mid afternoon. It’s a good thing we didn’t plan on any sight-seeing or riding or riding while in Florida as one day was high winds and rain. But we spent time with my Dad and helped him out with a few things.

After a few days in Florida it was time to head back north and in the direction of home. Donna had once again decided that since we would be on the boring highway that she wanted to stop for the night somewhere in south Georgia and then finish the journey home the next day. It also gave me the chance to take her on different route home that she hadn’t ridden on before. I took us up to Ormond Beach where we then used FL HWY 40 to head west to the middle of the state and got on Interstate 75 near Ocala, FL. FL HWY 40 is nice mostly 2 lane highway going through the Osceola National Forest. Our normal trip home would be I-95 to I-295 to I-10 and then I-75 into Georgia and all the way home. The trip on FL HWY 40 takes us up I-95 a very short distance and FL 40 to Ocala and then I-75 all the way home. The mileage of the two routes are nearly identical and the route on FL 40 is about 15 minutes longer but worth every minute of it. Somewhere north of Ocala the odometer on the Magic Carpet rolled over to 80,000 miles too! Again we were dealing with wind strong enough to toss our heads and loud enough to activate the VOX on the intercom. We headed up to our stop in Tifton, Georgia for the night. Although we picked the hotel for its close proximity to being able to walk to any number of restaurants we decided to stay in the room and order pizza to be delivered!

Tifton is nearly the half way point for us. So we could once again get a late start in the morning. It also gave us a chance to let the sun warm the day up. Another advantage of Donna’s idea is that it guarantees that we should miss rush hour traffic while going through or around Atlanta. Her way also got us home at just after 1:30 in the afternoon.

The Magic Carpet now sits in the garage with more than 80,000 miles on her odometer and she’s ready to go out again!

Marsh view preserved by…….

Restaurant sign in Port Orange, FL. Unfortunately is was in the back corner near the dumpster.

Lady’s Island bridge seen from battery park.

Beaufort River bridge to Lady’s Island from the downtown battery park.

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I rode back home from Florida today. Not long after I got on Interstate 95 I was presented with two examples of “biker or motorcyclist”. A biker can ride any kind of motorcycle and so can a motorcyclist so this has nothing to do with what kind of motorcycles they ride. In fact, today both the biker and the motorcyclist were on the same make of motorcycle.

Biker: I was in the center lane and could see a motorcycle slowly coming up in the left lane. As he pulled alongside I noticed right away it was one of the Harley Davidson Hard Candy Customs and had the bobbed rear end, forward controls and mini ape bars. It was actually a gorgeous motorcycle. The rider had on a “pudding bowl” helmet and his feet splayed out. He just had a look that made me think I’d smell his cologne as he passed by. I gave him a wave and he looked over, didn’t wave or acknowledge in any other way than looking. Then he opened up his throttle and pulled away, apparently wanting to let me know that he was a member of the Volusia County Loud Pipes Riding Club. Oh the bars or poker runs that bike has been too!

Motorcyclist: It was less than 10 minutes later another motorcycle slowly came up in the left lane. The rider of this motorcycle had on one of those “Captain America” helmets and a worn leather jacket. The bike was an older Harley Davidson Electra Glide. This motorcycle had been ridden hard and put up wet many times. You could tell this motorcycle had some miles on it. It looked worn but not abused. It had what looked like a sleeping bag and other luggage lashed to the back seat between its rider and a king tour pack that looked like it was on crooked. Then it happened. As we rode along side by side for just a few seconds, we both waved at each other at the same time and he nodded his head at me. He slowly kept pulling away, maintaining his speed. Oh the stories from the road and travels that Electra Glide could likely tell.

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Yesterday I left for a solo trip to the Daytona Beach area of Florida to visit my Dad and help him out with a few house projects. It was a brisk 27 degrees (F) when I left home in Acworth, Georgia and headed for Florida. The heated seat and the heated grips got a real workout on this trip. It never warmed any higher than the mid 30’s until I stopped for breakfast in Forsyth, Georgia. After breakfast though it was a balmy 45 degrees as I continued south. When I stopped for gas in Tifton, Georgia I shed a layer of clothing and even switched to unlined leather gloves (but still enjoyed the heated hand grips). I pulled in at the Florida Welcome Center and even removed the insulated liner of my jacket then. It was Florida after all! It had also warmed into the mid 60’s. But I did leave my long johns on. Once I left the Welcome Center, the winds picked up and got gusty too. Between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach I found a rain shower or two. Not enough to wet the road, but enough to wet the windshield. By the time I had reached Daytona Beach it had warmed to 72 degrees! I’ll be here for a few days before heading back home to Donna.

It wasn’t so much the cold that was the problem because I had dressed for it. It was the traffic getting Atlanta! I thought I had left early enough to get ahead of most of the traffic, especially since to Atlanta I was taking a route I had commuted on for many years. Boy was I wrong. A few minor interstate highway “incidents” made it difficult. It took me an hour and half to get to the exit where I used to get off at to go to work. In rush hour, it used to take an hour or less to get all the way to the office. In fact if there is no traffic, my planned breakfast stop in Forsyth, Georgia is just over an hour and half from the house. I’m glad I no longer have to make that drive everyday!

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I took another solo trip down to Florida again over this past weekend to visit my Dad and help him out with a few things. He’s actually getting along quite well on his own.

I rode down on Saturday morning and through some torrential rain in middle Georgia beginning north of Macon and then finally ending around Tifton, Georgia. Even with rain gear and rain liners I eventually got wet. Since it was heavy rain and not a mist, the Plexus helped the rain roll right off the windshield. I raised the Magic Carpet’s windshield and had good visibility down the road. I turned on the red LED light on the back of my helmet to slow blink just to make me more visible. The rain liner in my mesh jacket finally gave up and I was beginning to get wet. I tried putting on a rain jacket but the high collar with the hood rolled up in it would not let me turn my head with the helmet on so I abandoned that idea. My gloves soaked through pretty quick. Then I got that uncomfortable feeling when my pants began to leak. The pants are Tourmaster Quest pants and have a RainGuard liner in them that has held up well so far as being waterproof. Until Saturday when I felt the water leaking in on my seat! The temperatures were in the mid 60’s and I turned the heated grips and the heated seat both on to the low setting and it really helped alleviate the wet feeling. My Vega waterproof boots never did leak and that would’ve really sucked if they had. The weather radio on the motorcycle said that ahead in Valdosta, GA it was cloudy and 76 degrees and even further down the road in Jacksonville, FL it was cloudy and 86 degrees! There were flash flood watches (not warnings) for the central and southern Georgia areas I was riding through. I even saw 3 different single vehicle accidents were people had driven off the road in the rain, probably going a bit too fast for the weather conditions.

With about a mile left in Georgia before I crossed into Florida, the odometer on the Magic Carpet changed over to 75,000 miles. Since it was no longer raining at that time I pulled over and took a quick picture. I pulled in at the Florida Welcome Center and took out the rain liner from my mesh jacket and continued along the way. My gloves were already starting to dry. It took no time for the jacket to dry and by the time I had reached Jacksonville, I was totally dry again (yes even my “seat”).

With about a mile to go before reaching Florida, the odometer reached 75,000 miles.

The return trip home was pretty uneventful. My hi-vis mesh jacket is fairly new I noticed something that is probably attributed to the full fairing on the K1200LT and not the jacket. At the 70 mph interstate speeds the torso of the jacket could still get a bit warm. But when I would slow down getting off the interstate to get food, get gas or a rest area I could feel the cooler air circulating through the jacket as I slowed down. I think it’s just that the fairing protects and redirects so much of the wind, that there was none to move through the jacket at the higher interstate speeds. But let me tell you this, the BMW K1200LT can eat up some highway miles in comfort!

Until next time, Ride Safe!

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I’m back home from the earlier solo ride down to Florida this week. We’ll both be going back down again next week, this time for Mom’s memorial service. But, we’ll probably take the car as “nice” clothes travel better in a car.

In the post earlier this week I said that I took a different route this time. I used I-75 from metro Atlanta to I-475 (to go around Macon, GA) and then I-75 again all the way down to Ocala, Florida. Once in Ocala, I took Florida HWY 40 across to Ormond Beach and then took I-95 for a few miles to my destination. The GPS said that this route was 477 miles, took 7 hours and 35 minutes of time in motion and a total of 8 hours and 13 minutes that the GPS was on. The GPS comes on with the motorcycle and turns off 30 seconds after the motorcycle is turned off. This route took me through the Ocala National Forest. I saw bear crossing signs and in a whole section of the forest, the trees all leaned to west from the prevailing winds blowing in from the east coast of Florida. It was definitely more leisurely than the normal interstate highway route. I didn’t hear any banjo music while cutting across Florida. I’ll be adding this ride to the GPS Files page this weekend.

Normally when we go down to Florida, we’ll take I-75 from metro Atlanta to I-475 (to go around Macon, GA) and then back on I-75 until we get to I-10 East where we head for I-295 (to go around Jacksonville, FL) and then take I-95 South to our destination. The trip home merely reverses the route. Yes, this route is all interstate highway but gets us there in a day. According to the GPS the return trip home was 478 miles, took 7 hours and 38 minutes of time in motion and 7 hours and 59 minutes that the GPS was on.

What did I learn about the routes? The route cutting across on FL HWY 40 was actually a mile shorter but sure didn’t look that way on a map. The normal, all interstate highway route took a total of 3 minutes longer as I had run into slow traffic when I got to Atlanta. The route using Ocala FL HWY 40 was 1 hour and 14 minutes longer, probably because of the traffic lights and a few stops in traffic on the morning I left.

I also noticed a few things on this trip or had a few things happen:

I got hit on the left knee by a chunk of tire when someone in front of me ran over a piece of tire retread in the road. The chunk that hit me was about the size of a golf ball and hit me while I travelling just over 70 mph. While it hit the knee armor , I surely felt it. I cringe at how it would’ve felt if I was wearing riding pants with armor, or even worse, shorts.

At gas stop at a “Travel Plaza” (they attract all motorists by not using the term Truck Stop) 2 tour busses pulled up one behind the other to unload the high school kids from Iowa on them. But they wanted to be right at the door and blocked about 15 cars of customers from leaving until they were finished. Someone from the Travel Plaza came out and told them they needed to move to the area posted for “Truck, RV and Bus Parking”. So much for professional drivers.

At 2 gas stops and the Florida Welcome Center I had strangers walk up and start talking about motorcycling and asking questions about The Magic Carpet. You don’t have that happen when travelling by car in your Ford Taurus or Chevy Impala.

While in southern Georgia near the state line I passed a car that had a laptop propped up on the dashboard and angled so the driver could see it! I had hoped she wasn’t watching a movie. She pulled into the Florida Welcome Center shortly after I did and parked just one space away. Guess what? She was watching a movie while driving at 70 mph.

On the way home today I was passed by a Harley Davidson Road Glide Ultra in Florida whose rider was wearing a full face helmet, armored riding pants and an hi-vis orange Harley Davidson mesh jacket. He was definitely dressed more like an armadillo than a pirate!

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As I’ve posted before, I don’t like solo trips, I really like having Donna sitting behind me. Last week I thought I was going to make a solo trip to come to Florida to see my Mom in hospice for leukemia. But things took a turn and we both ended up coming down a day early at night. Mom lost her battle with leukemia last Thursday night.

Yesterday I did ride down solo to come help my Dad out with a few things. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this trip by car or motorcycle. This time though a friend suggested a different route. I came all the way to just about Ocala, FL to take FL Highway 40 east across to Ormond Beach. This route took me past Silver Springs and through the Ocala National Forest. According to MapSource the route was two miles shorter and 12 minutes longer than the regular all interstate way (but I think it was much more than 12 minutes longer). According to the GPS, the trip was 477 miles and took 7 hours and 35 minutes of time moving. The trip was longer with stops. I’ll write a more normal entry when I get back home. I figured I’d try making this entry with the WordPress for Windows Phone app. Continue reading →

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Last Wednesday I took my first long solo trip on the Magic Carpet. By solo I mean just me on the motorcycle and not just one motorcycle. I’ve grown very accustomed to having Donna sitting behind me and having her to talk with. I just enjoy having her back there and it’s not just for the neck and shoulder rubs on long trips (although those are a big plus). Our young beagle had very recently had spinal surgery and Donna needed to stay at home with her as she can’t be put in a kennel yet, even though she is healing ahead of schedule. I headed down from metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia to the Daytona Beach, Florida area. My Mom is a breast cancer survivor and has now acquired another malady that puts her in yet another fight. Mom & Dad needed some help with a few things. Mom’s just not up to getting out and doing things like cleaning gutters and patio furniture with Dad right now. This is a 480 mile door to door trip and would be all interstate this time.

I had planned to leave at about 6:00 am so that I could be well ahead of rush hour traffic on the interstate. Well plans don’t always work out and I wasn’t rolling until just before 7:00 am. Yes, I got up on time. I kissed Donna goodbye and was rolling. I wasn’t on Interstate 75 very long before I was greeted with brake lights in front of me. The traffic was brutal. It made me happy that I’m retired and no longer have to make that trip everyday at that time. The traffic added at least another hour to my trip. My travel time was over 10 hours to get to Florida! The weather wasn’t bad either, being cloudy or overcast most of the way.

Coming home the following Tuesday was just the opposite. It was the same route but I got on the road at 6:00 am this time after saying goodbye to Mom & Dad. The sun began to rise from the Atlantic Ocean over my right shoulder as I rode north. Temperatures were even the same as the trip down. Both times I started out with temperatures in the low 60’s (F) and they rose to the mid 70’s (F) for my destination. Only for the return trip I had blue, cloudless skies. This time I made the trip in 7 hours and 16 minutes of driving (moving time) according to the GPS. I arrived home 9 hours and 10 minutes after I left. That time included two meal stops and 3 gas stops. I was pretty impressed that I made it from Daytona Beach to Valdosta, GA on a tank of gas and still had just over 50 miles left according the K1200LT’s trip computer.

This was my first long trip using my earplugs which made a world of difference. The earplugs had a lot to do with the lack of fatigue from the sound. A quite noticeable difference. Wearing the ear plugs for that long (other than meal stops) caused me no physical discomfort. I also paired the Scala Rider Teamset Pro with my Windows Phone instead of the GPS this time. As I approached my parent’s home while I was traveling on I-95 I was able to call them with an updated ETA. They had no idea that I was actually calling from the motorcycle and said it just sounded like I was outside. I know the nemesis of motorcyclists is text messaging drivers. But on the way home, a friend and Donna both sent me a few, that the phone read to me and I replied by voice commands and speaking he message coincidentally while either pumping gas or preparing to leave from lunch (so I guess I wasn’t texting and riding after all). I really wasn’t too happy with the volume of the messages and the few phone calls until I remembered that I had to raise the volume on the phone and not on the intercom! Would I leave the phone paired to the Scala? No. I’d just assume leave it paired to the GPS. But this was a special trip and I didn’t need the GPS for directions and just used it for arrival time purposes. My new Windows Phone doesn’t have all the features my last Windows Phone did. In testing it, the old phone would voice announce the caller by name and use the phone’s ringer or the caller’s unique ring if they had one. It would also announce who the text message was from so you could “listen or ignore”. The new phone just uses a generic phone ringer with no voice announce and merely informs you of “new text message” and asks if you want to listen now or later. I liked the features on the old phone better. But since I don’t plan on using except for an interstate trip like this one, it doesn’t really bug me. I’d rather have the GPS directions sent to the Scala. The Scala Rider Teamset Pro allow only one additional Bluetooth connection to each headset in addition to the one already taken by the intercom.

When leaving Florida in the dark, a motorist pulled up next to me and told me “You know the back of your helmet is flashing?” I told him it was to make me more visible, especially in low light conditions. He laughed and said “Well I guess it works then!” Our helmets have a red LED light in the rear that can be set to off, steady on, slow flash or fast flash. He was right, I guess it works. My Dad had also run down the driveway calling at me to tell me my helmet was “blinking”.